Day: October 10, 2017

Des Moines State Senator Matt McCoy is endorsing Fred Hubbell in the Democratic gubernatorial primary today, praising the Des Moines businessman’s knowledge of the Iowa economy and lifetime of support for progressive causes. McCoy’s backing gives Hubbell his first endorser in the Iowa Senate, adding to a list of six Iowa House members and many former elected officials, including Sally Pederson and Patty Judge. “Fred has always been very socially progressive, he and Charlotte, and when it comes to the environment, reproductive health and the issues we care about, he’s always been there,” McCoy told Starting Line. “He’s got an […]

Someone should check Chuck Grassley’s pulse. Iowa’s senior senator declared back in August of 2016 that a President Donald Trump would eliminate tax credits for wind energy “over my dead body.” And yet yesterday, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt declared that he wanted to do exactly that. “I would do away with these incentives that we give to wind and solar,” Pruitt said at an event with the Kentucky Farm Bureau. “I’d let them stand on their own and compete against coal and natural gas and other sources, and let utilities make real-time market decisions on those types of […]

When the ballots were being counted to determine whether or not University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics healthcare workers would unionize, Cathy Glasson – the person who had led the effort for months – wasn’t in the room. Glasson was instead working a 12-hour shift in the intensive care unit where she served as a nurse while the Labor Relations board met. It was in September of 1997, before text messaging was widespread (Glasson didn’t have a cell phone, anyway), so all Glasson could do was wait to get a call in the break room. The stakes were high, both […]